So we walk alone
by Kaielyne
Summary: She had her demons, he had his ghosts. Both torn by a feeling of love they shouldn't feel. He shouldn't love Lucille, just like she shouldn't love Dorian. It was bound to reduce their world to ashes, and their hearts as well. So when the ominous Mr. Thomas Sharpe assists to Miss Vanessa Ives bitter breakup with Dorian Gray, he knows exactly that she is what he needs.
1. Chapter 1

His lips felt like a memory. The sweet memory of the moments they shared together, and the bitter one of those they would never live. He didn't hold her, embrace her, and his hold on her heart was weakening just as her hold on his sinfully beautiful jaw, slightly shaking under her fingers.

"It's rejection."

The words weren't harsh nor soft. They were definitive. She kept her forehead pressed against his, enjoying the last moments of tender they would ever share. The poor creature in front of her didn't seem to understand the situation, for he simply kept silent, his pale eyes veiled by what seemed like an emotion between sadness and fear.

After a moment, she drew back, staring at him one last time, both her heart and her mind full of regrets.

"Goodbye Mr. Gray."

She didn't wait for an answer, turning away swiftly and leaving him, abandoned and with a bleeding heart. But it was too dangerous to keep seeing Dorian Gray, she had decided after her demons had returned.

For Vanessa Ives was a woman haunted by the ghosts of her past and the demons of her mind. She would only break him, tear him apart, if they let their passion go any further. She had left a part of herself in the garden along with Dorian, a part of what was left of her innocence. Now, that said innocence was running thin, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before nothing of it was to be left.

But Dorian Gray was not the only lost creature that had witnessed her final leaving, for another one was spying the scene that afternoon, pretending to have an interest in the flowers of the garden whereas only one had truly his attention. He was now following her from another path, never letting her out of his sight. His steps fastened, and their ways were now meant to join soon enough. Increasing his pace ever so slightly, he passed her by so that they would collide when their two paths would join.

Vanessa was too concentrated on the memory of how she parted way with Dorian to look at the actual way in front of her. She saw at the last moment the man standing in front of her, brutally stopping to walk so that she wouldn't crash into him. Her eternal frown deepened, even though she had halted soon enough to avoid the awkward situation. The man turned his head toward her, as if he hadn't noticed her either. Well, at least she wasn't the only one unaware of the other. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, wanted to get away from the gentleman who wrecked her life and darkened her thoughts. It was probably because of the bitter memory of his perfection that she didn't particularly flinched in front of the handsome man staring back at her. He was tall, incredibly so, towering every other man around them. His entirely black attire was one of mourning, of mystery. She herself appreciated to wear black, for it was simple, and kept her mind of of frivolities. It kept her from diverging from her destiny, making her remember every single deed she had ever done, every single person that died because of her. Her life was the eternal mourning of her purity. His hair in itself, slicked back, was of a dark brown, almost black. In fact, maybe it was. His features were angular, and his jawline seemed like one the greek statues had. Her gave off an aura of mystery and danger, a feeling amplified by his dark spectacles.

His face was expressionless while staring at her, and she couldn't see his eyes. It made her uneasy, and she tried to make her way on the side of the path, not bothering with an apology. After all, they hadn't collided, and she still wanted to get the hell out of this place. An hand stopping her arm made her head snap back to the gentleman. With her arm still in his hand, he lowered his spectacle with his other one. His eyes were of a piercing blue, just like hers, and with a smile, he released her to take a hold of her hand instead. He kissed it politely, keeping his eyes on hers.

Her frown diminished, but it was obvious that she was still in no mood for flirting with him. What a pity. But he could at least present himself, so that her her day would be slightly better.

"I apologize for my rudeness. I didn't meant to stare at you in such a despicable way."

Stare at her in a despicable way? He barely looked at her with an air of indifference, when on the other hand, she stared at him with an almost murdeous intent. If one was to apologize, it was her, she knew it well.

"No, don't be. I am to blame, I almost ran into you."

On that matter, he had to say he was a bit deceived. He truly thought that they would crash into one another, but the reflexes of the lady were better than he had expected.

"Vanessa Ives." she spoke softly, controlling her voice despite her raging emotions.

Vanessa. Oh, it suited her so very much. Elegant, yet with a faint feeling of darkness. He had known many women, yet none had given him the feeling he felt at this moment, when, with her low and sultry voice, she revealed to him and only him, her name. Her identity. Who she was.

"Thomas Sharpe."

He was looking at her in a way she couldn't explain. Dorian also had a way of looking at her, as if nothing else mattered but the two of them. Dorian looked at her as if he knew everything of her, even her darkest secrets. Thomas Sharpe looked at her as if he wanted to know about those secrets, and would do anything to succeed in that matter. She couldn't let him do so.

He took a step back when she claimed her hand free, with a certain violence. As if something had happened during the two seconds that preceded when he spoke his name. Her frown was back, and she turned her back to him.

"Have a nice evening Mr. Sharpe."

And, just like she did with Dorian, she ran away from a possibly very dangerous man. But he said something back, something she had expected and feared.

"I am sure we will see each other again, Miss Ives."

She didn't look at him, but her suddent immobility told him she had heard and acknowledged his words. It was only after a few seconds that she moved again, this time leaving the garden for good. She was going to be a true regal. And Lucille would be satisfied he found another one.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lucille. I'm back."

His voice was one of an excited child. He couldn't help it. Today had been a particularly good day, even though the beautiful Miss Ives may have a different opinion on the matter. Actually, it was she who made him grin with an actual genuine smile. It faltered a bit, though, when his sister arrived, well aware that she wouldn't be entirely pleased by the new, even if she was the one who asked for it. They were truly similar, with their angular features, their dark hair and their eyes of a blue so clear, it could be made of ice.

"Thomas. Did you find one? I heard London is quite in a frenzy, so finding a new one shouldn't be too hard," stated Lucille.

"In fact, I found one. I think she will suit the role perfectly."

"Perfectly?" she muttered, a sudden flash of jealousy in her eyes.

"Well, as perfect as being my dead wife can be." he answered, biting his tongue. The words didn't seem right. Not that it would change anything.

The Sharpe were no common aristocracy. He was a baronet, and they owned a manor in the country side called Allerdale Hall. However, they were running quite low on pennies, and the house was deteriorating as the years passed by, sinking into the ground and the red clay that made the house be given the name of Crimson Peak. The only way they had found to survive was to inherit of some lost fortunes through a series of marriages with rich widows or soon-to-be young heiresses. Then, a little of poison did the trick and a few weeks later, they were a bit less miserable. Thomas had never consumed his unions with the women he wed, afraid of developing deeper bonds with what he considerated as necessary sacrifices, and also afraid of his sister's wrath.

"Then, I guess it shall be her." whispered Lucille, cupping her brother's face with her hands and laying a soft kiss on his lips.

For the Sharpe were not only brother and sister, but lovers as well. What the others could have considerated as a great sin was for them the result of years of mutual suffering and an extension of the brotherly love they had for each other.

But Thomas couldn't help but compare the kiss to the one Vanessa had given to her former lover. There was something about Lucille's kisses that made him wonder whether or not what they did was alright. He knew they were meant to be, that she was the only thing he had since the beginning, but somehow, it made him uneasy to imagine other siblings have such a relationship. Of course, he would never compare his relationship with Lucille to any other in the world, but he felt like it lacked something. That he lacked something. It was something he discovered when he witnessed other couples' acts of affection. He secretly wondered, deep down, how would be a romantic relationship with someone else, what would be different. Would it feel right, because the society would deem it as right?

Yes, it was Vanessa Ives behavior that made him think about it with more dept than what he usually gave to the issue. And now the only way to get answers was to actually take another lover. His sister would never approve, even though he was convinced the experiment would end up with him being disgusted with other women and going back to his Lucille. But he had to be sure. To be sure that Lucille was the right one, and that what they lived wasn't just a fantasm of their imagination. Somehow, deep under the love and the lust he had for his sister, laid a disturbing feeling he couldn't quite identify. At least, not yet.

Making Vanessa Ives his lover, because he knew she would fall for him; they all did, would be the first true decision he would make without his sister's consent, and this sole notion felt both exciting and terrifying.

"So, who is she?"

Lucille's voice brought him back to reality, and even if her voice wasn't as unpleasant as it previously was, he could still hear worry in it.

"Her name is Vanessa Ives. She is, I believe, an heiress of some sort. Or the wife of a rich man, even though I doubt it. I saw her kissing her lover in broad daylight. They were parting ways, from what I witnessed.

"How very convenient. No emotional bond, unless she has multiple lovers. She should be an easy prey. We shall try to learn where she lives tomorrow. For now, I think a cup of wine would be an excellent idea. What about going to the restaurant?"

Lucille wasn't one who talked much. They both weren't, but she seemed particularly talkative this evening. The prospect of solving this whole problem of money and seeing back the house in the near future was probably what kept her mood so enthusiastic, even if the idea of sharing her brother darkened her mood a little. Studying her, Thomas noticed that not only did she looked quite similar to himself, but also to Vanessa. As stranger would probably mistake them as siblings, all three of them, if they were to ever walk together, all dressed in black, exuding mystery. How ironic. He hadn't told Lucille about Vanessa's strange reaction to their meeting, in which she had, brutally so, snapped off her hand from his grip as he presented himself. He didn't know what to think of it, and that slightly worried him.

Vanessa… He couldn't bring himself to think of her as Miss Ives. Not now that she had given him the possibility of tying such a personal bond by giving him her name; he wouldn't think of her as being only Miss Ives. Even if she became Lady Sharpe, she would stay Vanessa. Vanessa the woman who would teach him whether or not he could love the right way.

* * *

She should have wept for her lost love. Anyone else would have, especially if it was a certain Mr Dorian Gray. But Vanessa Ives wasn't anyone else, and she couldn't afford to let him poison her mind once again. She already had enough demons and enough battles to fight. Mina had yet to be found, and she wouldn't rest until her friend was either safe or dead. Falling for the depraved gentleman had been a mistake. He had awoken something in her inhuman, unpure and unhealthy.

She had gone back to the person she was a few years before, wicked, wild and insane. During those days, she had discovered in herself a perverted side she had yet to meet, filled with lust, anger and despair. She had undergone many treatments, and many doctors had deemed her evil. In some way, she knew she was, but what was left of good in her was fighting against her inner depravity. It was that demonic side of hers that killed her mother, whether it was truly from an heart disease like the doctors proclaimed or only from exhaustion due to all the sacrifices she had done in order to keep Vanessa on a leash. The latter didn't particularly like her mother, especially because of the liaison Mrs Ives had with Sir Malcom Murray. Liaison that Vanessa stumbled upon by accident, in the garden. She truly had no luck with gardens. Maybe she wasn't to be amongst the flowers, after all. Everything in her life past life now seemed fake, on the exception of Mina.

Oh, her dearest Mina. They were childhood friends, and had a very close relationship, until, just like in any friendship, jealously appeared. Mina was everything parents hoped for their daughter to be. She was insanely beautiful, talented, intelligent, charming. Ever so charming. Vanessa had a darker aura. She always was the mysterious of them both, but this mystery made her unapproachable, whereas Mina was a blooming flower, attracting suitors just like light attracts moths. Of course, she took a liking in one of them, she would have been a fool not to, and Vanessa couldn't help but be angered by her friend's facility in every aspect of life. It was without any doubt that anger that made her commit what she did that night, the night before Mina's wedding. Her bestfriend's fiance, bending her on a table, claiming her innocence as he savagely took her. And she liked it. Every bite, every scratch and bruise. It was violent, it was primal, it was forbidden. Mina broke her engagement the day after, and the two families cut ties.

It wasn't until a few months back that Malcom Murray contacted her. Now, both her parents were laying underground, as was her former self. She had become a creature of the night, and even though she kept her demons in check, those demons that revealed themselves after her parting ways with Mina, the danger was still lingering deep under. Malcom was not one to contact her unless something of an immense gravity had happened, for he was still very much angered with her, and her betrayal of their family. Mina was missing. She had vanished, and he was convinced the devil was the one responsible of her abduction. The only way for him to have her back was now to ask Vanessa for her help, through the powers she had developed. Demons weren't always bothersome, after all.

It was during their quest that she met Dorian. At a party actually, and he was everything she liked in a man. Someone fascinating, not inclined to like her because of her cold beauty and, eventually, bore her out of her skull. Dorian was dark and had secrets, just like she did, and she felt with him a connection due to this darkness. They weren't the good ones, and they weren't pretending they were. No pretending was what she liked with him. But Dorian was threatening the barriers keeping her demons in check, and she couldn't let them out even though it meant sacrificing what she felt for the man. Finding Mina was her sole priority, along with keeping her mind sane. The latter would probably be the hardest.

"There you are." Malcom Murray declared, interrupting her thoughts upon his arrival.

He probably had went in town to question some of his contacts about Mina. She was lucky they didn't stumbled upon each other in the street, she wasn't sure she could have kept her temper in check after her breakup with Dorian and this bothering encounter with a weird stranger. Now that she had had a few hours alone in the house, Sembene the valet being out for some sort of shopping, she felt much calmer.

"Here I am."

She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to see anyone, for that matter. She was tired, and only wanted to stay home to read a bit of poetry and maybe write a few letters before going to bed. But Malcom would expect her to stay and keep him company, maybe even making plans to find Mina. She was in no mood for neither of the two.

"Mr. Gray has asked me to join him to the theater tonight. I shall leave soon." she lied, the lie being the only good one she could tell, even though it hurt her to do so.

"The theater is not opening its door until 8. You still have plenty of hours. Why not stay to dine with me, and leave afterward?"

"Should Sembene come back shortly, I don't really know how the both of us will manage to survive the evening, let alone say thefollowing ones, trapped in this house to starve for the remaining of our days." she joked casually."Better to ration our resources, don't you think?"

Malcom smiled, even though his smile didn't reach his eyes totally. Their relationship had gotten better since their reunion, but Mina's absence was an everlasting cloud of melancholy and despair over the house.

"I don't know when I'll be back." she muttered.

"Just come back, and it shall be enough."

Staring at him for a moment longer, she silently left the house. She truly wanted to stay alone, even if it meant lying to Malcom, and even though the city might have been an odd choice for such a desire, it was still better, in her opinion, than a silent house only filled by the sadness of her bestfriend's father and bitter memories of the past.

A lonely woman in the city of London at night wasn't a particularly wise decision. It didn't matter. She was used to walk alone.


End file.
